


Come Together, Come Apart

by QuirkyNeon (iforgetlikeanelephant)



Category: Generation Kill
Genre: College AU, M/M, Walt and Ray are roommates, Walt is a Good Bro, coffee shop AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-05
Updated: 2017-09-05
Packaged: 2018-12-24 07:54:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,071
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12008358
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/iforgetlikeanelephant/pseuds/QuirkyNeon
Summary: Ray puts the 'pro' in 'procrastination', and Brad puts the 'oh shit, that dude's really hot and I want to die' in college campus coffee shops. That's a thing, right? It is to Ray, who can't seem to stop looking at the guy that makes coffee and smiles like he's in a toothpaste commercial.Written for Day 3 of Generation Kill week!





	Come Together, Come Apart

Ray is eyeball deep in a research paper for his History 415 class, four source books and papers spread around him as he checks his sources against the text book that he has propped on his lap, taking notes on his laptop that’s in the middle of the mess on the table. He’s got his headphones in, listening to music that would make his mother cry, when he’s startled by a cup being set down by his elbow, on top of a journal that he printed out and needs to use as another source for his paper. “Hey no, not on my paper,” Ray says as he pops one of the earbuds out of his ear, glaring up at the tall man that’s standing next to the table in an apron that gives away the face that he works here. He pick up the cup and shoves it toward the tall guy, whose name tag says BRAD in sparkling letters that don’t seem to match the serious look on the other man’s face, “I didn’t order this.”

 

“I know,” Brad says, and he’s not taking the cup from Ray which, c’mon man, he’s trying to work here, “You’ve been nursing that same drink for three hours, I figured you could do with a fresh one.”

 

Ray didn’t realize it had been three hours, and he looks down at his computer to check the time, swearing when he sees that he had ten minutes to get across campus for his class. “Shit, I have to go,” He says, pushing the cup back toward Brad until the other man finally grabs it out of his hand, looking confused. “It’s the thought that counts,” Ray says quickly, piling his papers up and shoving them haphazardly into his shoulder bag, along with his books, and shutting his laptop without bothering to close anything he has open on it before he tucks it under his arm, slinging his bag over his shoulder. 

 

“Take it with you,” Brad says, holding the coffee out and Ray waves him off, already trying to figure out the fastest way to cross the distance between the coffee shop on campus and the building his English Lit class is in. 

 

“Can’t, professor doesn’t allow drinks that can spill in the class, I really have to go,” Ray denies, saying the last bit over his shoulder as he darts out of the shop and into the cool September air, his feet and brain working together well enough that he makes it to the building and into the class he needs to be in a very close two minutes before the actual start of class. That doesn’t stop the professor from glaring at him as he settles into the chair that he always does for this class, three rows from the front and five from the back, his breathing heavy as he drops his head to the top of the desk and tries to slow his beating heart.

 

—————

 

Ray is still working on the paper for History 415, his notes again spread across the table that he’s seated at as he works his way through narrowing down his sources to the important bits, when he sees Brad again. This time the other man isn’t working, if the papers that are spread around him are any indication, which surprises Ray because why would you be in the coffee shop that you work at outside of work hours? He supposes if he got a discount on coffee he’d probably do the same thing, but alas, he works a shitty customer service job that barely pays the bills, so he tries not to hang out at work when he doesn’t have to. He’s spacing out, reading through a journal that’s got a lot of good information, his highlighter working overtime, when a cup is set down in front of him, this time on the only bare spot on the table. “Will you drink it this time?” Brad asks, raising an eyebrow at the him and Ray checks the time on his phone, mostly to force himself to look away from Brad’s biceps in the stupid sleeveless shirt he’s wearing. 

 

“Well, I’m not late for anything this time,” Ray answers, setting down his highlighter before he grabs the cup, bringing it to his nose and inhaling the sweet scent of chocolate and coffee. “Do you give all the stressed students in here free coffee?” He asks, looking up at Brad’s face as he cradles the cup in his hand, appreciating the fact that he gave him a real mug.

 

“Only the cute ones,” Is Brad’s answer, which makes Ray snort behind the mug, fighting back a blush at the grin that blooms on the taller man’s face. 

 

Ray finally takes a sip of the drink, using it as an excuse to try and figure out how the hell to react to that. “I didn’t think you were working today, you don’t have your apron or sparkly name tag and last I saw you were surrounded by books,” He says finally, nodding toward the table that he knows Brad was sitting at before he came over here. 

 

“Oh? Keeping an eye out for me?” Brad asks as his grin grows, which only makes Ray’s blush deepen as he sets the mug down on the table, glancing back down at the highlighter on the table as he realizes that he absolutely just admitted that he had noticed Brad earlier. 

 

“It’d be hard to miss those biceps,” Ray says, and it would because Brad is built like a brick shit house,  _ Jesus _ , “And you have a good face, very manly.”

 

Brad laughs, and Ray is struck straight in the gut by the way it seems to come straight from his gut. “Thanks…I think. Well, I just wanted to give you your coffee, so I’ll go back to my own work and leave you alone, Ray Person,” He says, grinning as he turns on his heel and walks back to his table and wait,  _ what _ ? How did Brad know his name?

 

———————

 

“Maybe he’s stalking you,” Walt says, and he sounds so serious that Ray actually has to open his eyes to see what his face looks like. He’s smirking, so Ray figures he’s not serious which really, when has his roommate  _ ever  _ been serious? 

 

“You’re a menace,” Ray says and he lets his eyes slip closed as he hears Walt laugh, “Seriously though, how the  _ fuck _ did he know my name?”

 

“Is he in one of your classes? Either this semester or last? Or maybe he’s…I don’t know, maybe you guys have a mutual friend,” Walt says it easily, which is the only reason that Ray opens his eyes again and sits up in his bed, narrowing his eyes as he looks at Walt sitting at his desk. 

 

He stares at the other man for a handful of minutes, until he looks away from what he’s doing on his computer to look Ray in the face. “You asshole, you know him, don’t you?” He asks, and the way that Walt looks away tells him everything he needs to know. “You do! You know Brad and you told him about me! What the  _ hell _ dude, why didn’t you tell me you knew a hottie like that?” He’s not even annoyed at Walt for spilling his name to Brad, just that the other man never mentioned knowing a guy that looks like  _ that _ to his bisexual roommate, “You’ve been holding out on me.” 

 

“ _ I _ don’t know him, Nate does,” Walt denies, and he gets that look in his eyes that he does when he talks about Nate, dopey and love sick as fuck. 

 

“ _ Nate _ knows him? That’s worse! I thought Nate and I were buddies, what the  _ hell _ ?” Ray is beyond words, and Walt is laughing at him. “Oh stop laughing, you’re pining over Nate so you don’t get to do this to me,” He harasses him, which makes him stop laughing immediately to glare instead. 

 

“I’m not  _ pining _ ,” Walt denies, and now it’s Ray’s turn to laugh. 

 

“If you were pining any more I could use you to clean the desk,” Ray says, rolling his eyes, “You  _ looooveeee _ Nate, you get that dumb look on your face when he’s even mentioned.”

 

“Shut the fuck up,” Walt says, but he covers his face and groans. “He’s just ridiculously good looking and I want to literally  _ die _ any time we hang out because he’s so funny? And smart? And I’m dying all the time inside,” He says against the palm of his hands, and Ray feels bad enough that he stands up from his bed and cuddles Walt’s head to his stomach. It’s a sign of how over everything is that Walt lets it happen, and even pushes up into Ray’s hand as he curls his fingers through his hair. 

 

“We can totally get laid, we can do this,” Ray says, and Walt laughs as he adds, “Obviously we’re not gonna fuck each other, I mean, you’re cute but you’re no built adonis Thor looking motherfucker.”

 

“Tall does seem to be your type, then again literally  _ everyone _ is taller than you so,” Walt says against Ray’s stomach, flinching when the other man pulls on his hair as he makes a noise of discontent. 

 

“Rude,” Ray says as he lets Walt go, the other man fixing his hair as he turns back to the desk, picking up his pencil and going back to his drawing. Ray flops back onto his bed and looks at the ceiling, counting the stick on stars that he put up the first night of the semester when he and Walt were high as fuck, wondering if there’s an actual chance that built as fuck Brad could actually have an interest of him. 

 

——————

 

Ray is half asleep as he stumbles into the coffee shop on campus, rubbing at his eyes with one hand as he pulls his wallet out of his back pocket with the other. He’s here early,  _ very  _ early, because he has two papers he’s working on, the finishing touches on his history paper and a short story for his creative writing class. He’s yawning as he steps up to the counter, his jaw cracking, and he nearly dies on the spot when he realizes Brad is the one taking the orders. “Early start?” Brad asks, and Ray nods his head, fighting a blush as he orders a large hot coffee, black, with room for cream. 

 

“Papers,” Ray answers as he hands over his cash, making a face as Brad grins at him. God, he’s wearing sweatpants and one of Walt’s hoodies that he grabbed off the ground before he snuck out of the dorm and Brad’s smiling at him like he’s a goddamn toothpaste model. “No one should look that good in an apron,” He says it, he thinks, in his head, until he sees the look that Brad is leveling his way and  _ oh God _ , “It’s too early—I have to—” Ray is stuttering as he backs away from the register, avoiding Brad’s eye as he picks up his coffee from the end of the counter. He pulls his phone out once he’s settled at the table furthest from the counter, because he might have just embarrassed the hell out of himself but he  _ really _ needs to do these papers, and texts Walt a long string of keysmashing plus ‘ _ i'm dying plz come to the coffee shop when u wake up i will BUY YOUR COFFEE JUST SHOW UP _ ’. 

 

After that panicked text he actually manages to get sucked into his papers, finishing up the history one as he moves on to the short one for his film studies class, something about the history of cinema in America. All he knows about the history of cinema is the fact that movie theaters used to be called nickelodeons, and he only knows  _ that _ because Jack Dawson says he wants to go to a nickelodeon in Titanic and he’s awesome at context clues. He’s in a Google hole on his laptop, neck deep in facts about queer history in film, when the chair across from him is pulled out from under the table loudly. “Where’s my coffee? Also, what the hell happened at six-thirty in the morning that could make you die?” Walt asks this as Ray is recovering from the mini-heart attack that he had when he thought for the slightest of moments that it might have been Brad dropping down onto the chair across from him. 

 

“ _ Jesus _ , homes, warn a guy,” He says, bringing a hand up to his chest and sucking in a breath, “I said to Brad’s face ‘ _ no one should look that good in an apron _ ’. To his  _ FACE _ !”

 

Walt starts laughing, tilting back in his chair as he does. “That’s the best thing I’ve ever heard,” He says through his laughter as Ray slides a five to him across the table. “Oh, you don’t want to go up and order my coffee?” He teases, and Ray shakes his head, feeling mortified at the thought when he looks over and sees that Brad’s still working. He glances at the clock on his laptop and sees that he’s been working on his papers for three hours, which is surprising, but not as surprising as the fact that Walt is still sitting across from him and not in line. 

 

“You gonna go up and order?” Ray asks, glancing back down at his screen and hearing Walt laugh. 

 

He glances up and watches Walt pocket the five. “Nah, Nate’s in line getting our coffees, but I’ll take this money though,” He says, and Ray rolls his eyes, making a mental note to harass him later about hanging out with Nate so early on a Saturday. All Ray does is raise an eyebrow at Nate, who rolls his eyes, “So, what have you managed to do this morning, other than suffer life ending embarrassment?”

 

“I uh,” He pauses, pulling his notebook toward him and taking a few notes, “Finished the history paper  _ finally _ , and I’m halfway done with the research for this history of cinema paper that’s due in a few weeks? I’ve started some basic research for my final paper for history, because yes, my professor is an asshole that likes to have two important papers back to back…” He trails off as Nate comes up to the table, two coffee in his hand, nodding in greeting before he continues, “I haven’t even  _ thought _ about my creative writing story, I’m really hoping some idea comes to me without me having to beat it out of my own brain.”

 

“Does it work like that?” Nate asks, setting a coffee in front of Walt before he pulls a chair from the table behind Walt, and Ray doesn’t miss the way Nate touches Walt’s shoulder as he drops into the chair next to him. 

 

“Sometimes it does,” Ray answers, sighing as he narrow his eyes at a weird bit of wording in the source he’s found for his cinema paper.

 

Walt laughs, “You should see him when he gets hit with an idea, especially when it comes out of nowhere. I’ve  _ literally _ seen him writing on napkins if he gets an idea when he’s not near paper.” Ray snorts at that, because he has been known to write on anything within reach. “Ray here told Brad that he’s hot, that’s what the freaking out text was about,” He says, and Ray glares over his laptop at the man across from him, because he could have at least  _ tried _ to be quiet about it. 

 

“I was  _ tired _ ,” Ray nearly whines, “I wasn’t thinking when I was talking and I honestly thought I had only thought it, homes, I didn’t realize I said it out loud until Brad was looking at me like I grew a third head and the person behind me laughed.” 

 

“You poor soul,” Nate says, and Ray sticks his tongue out at him.

 

“I look like  _ shit _ , homes, I’m literally in sweats and  _ Walt’s _ hoodie, it’s not even mine! And Brad is this fucking Thor looking motherfucker that I want to actually pin me down and ravish me yet here I word vomited all over myself in some weird half dream that turned out to be real life,” He frowns exaggeratedly at Nate, who’s looking over his shoulder with a vague look of panic on his face and, “Oh  _ God _ , I’ve done it again.” 

 

“I usually do dinner before a ravishing,” Brad’s voice is clear as a bell, and Ray shares his own panicked look with Walt and Nate before he looks over his shoulder, “But I think I could make an exception, if you insist.”

 

“I’m really tired,” Ray says as an excuse, reaching up to rub at his eyes to try and hide the heat on his cheeks. 

 

Ray hears Nate and Walt's chairs squeak away from the table and he glances back at the two of them, who wave awkwardly as they leave and wow,  _ thanks guys _ . “Can I sit?” Brad asks, and Ray only notices the two cups in his hands as he steps up next to the table. He nods, gesturing loosely to the chairs that Walt and Nate vacated, feeling like he wants to throw up as Brad drops into the chair across from him, smiling. 

 

“You don’t need to look so smug,” Ray says, closing the lid on his laptop and picking up his tepid coffee, finishing it off as he watches Brad watch him. The other man looks anything  _ but _ smug now that Ray can really look at him, he’s got color high on his cheeks and his knuckles are almost white as he holds the two mugs in front of him on the table. “Or, not,” He corrects, and Brad’s responding laugh sounds choked off. 

 

“Not smug, just mildly terrified,” Brad says, and his voice is surprisingly level as he pushes one of the coffees toward Ray, who looks at it before he sets his old mug down carefully and picks the new one up, bringing it to his nose to sniff it before he takes a sip.

 

“I’m not scary,” Ray denies, laughing against the lip of the mug, “I’m just this loudmouthed asshole that doesn’t know when to shut up.”

 

“I’ve had a crush on you for a  _ year _ , Ray Person, and the fact that you  _ noticed  _ me? Terrifying,” Brad says, and his voice is low as he speaks which,  _ what _ . 

 

“ _ You _ had a crush on  _ me _ ?” Ray asks, baffled, “I’m… _ nothing _ , are you kidding me? A  _ year _ ?”

 

“A year,” Brad says, bringing his own coffee up to his mouth and hiding behind the mug as he explains, “We were in a freshman orientation thing together, I sat in the back with my nose in a book and you were up front, loud as hell and holding court. I was just—you were a lot, too much for me to even think about approaching you, but when I saw you in here a few weeks ago just silently working on school shit you didn’t seem like too much.”

 

Ray remembers that freshman orientation thing, he was being obnoxiously loud and social to make up for the fact that he was absolutely shitting his pants. This was his first time being away from home, he’d had a shitty time in high school, a worse time  _ after _ high school, and he finally settled on college for something to do that wasn’t  _ nothing _ . “I remember that, were you—you were the guy in the beanie, reading some thick ass book with a Russian name on the cover?” Ray remembers him as nothing more than a hulking shadow in the back row, the beanie obscuring his hair and the book hiding his face. He doesn’t even remember being watched that afternoon, but apparently he had a captive audience in Brad. 

 

“The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoyevsky” Brad says before he takes another sip of coffee, and Ray nods his head, because that does ring a bell. 

 

“Like I said, a Russian name,” Ray grins at Brad, taking a sip of his coffee before he sets his mug down. “You asked around about me,” He asks without asking, adding on, “Walt told me that you talked to Nate.”

 

Brad sets his mug down as his cheeks burn an even brighter red than they had been, and Ray finds that  _ very _ fascinating. “I knew that you were Walt’s roommate, because Nate and I are roommates, so I just kind of…I actually cornered Walt one night when he was leaving our dorm and kind of uh, asked if you were seeing anyone? After I asked Nate about you, I mean, and he let slip that you and Walt were roommates,” He sounds embarrassed about this, and if Brad weren’t so fucking  _ cute _ Ray might think it was creepy, and it  _ is  _ his inner Bella Swan insists, but it’s not like he did creepy stuff  _ with _ the information he got. 

 

“You didn’t do anything creepy with any of the information you got, did you?” Ray double checks, and he doesn’t think the other man would, but the laugh he gets in response is soothing.

 

“I did your basic Instagram and Facebook stalking, but nothing outrageous,” Brad answers, and Ray can hear the honesty in his voice. 

 

“Well that’s fine, I did the same once Walt let slip that you and Nate were friends,” Ray admits with a shrug, “Except mine was much less informative considering you don’t  _ have _ an Instagram.”

 

“My life is not nearly exciting enough to photograph and keep a log of,” Brad says as slides his mug between his hands, and Ray is struck by how long his fingers are for a moment before he drags his gaze away and up to Brad’s face. 

 

“You’re kidding, right? You saw mine,” Ray laughs, shaking his head as he wraps his own hands around his mug, “I take pictures of my face and other dumb shit.”

 

“Your face isn’t dumb,” Brad argues, and Ray feels his cheeks heat up, lowering his eyes as he realizes that Brad wasn’t kidding about the crush thing. 

 

“I’d like dinner,” Ray says suddenly, throwing back to the beginning of the conversation, “If the offer of dinner before my ravishing is still on the table.”

 

He looks back up at Brad and is pleased to see how big the smile he’s got on his face is. “Yeah, dinner is absolutely still on the table, wherever you want,” Brad says this as he reaches his hand out slowly, almost like he thinks Ray is going to pull away, and places his fingers carefully on his wrist. Ray does move his hand slightly, but only enough to take his hand away from being wrapped around his mug to twisting his fingers together with Brad’s, his smile in return more shy than anything else. 

 

“I’m good with anything as long as I get to look at your face while I eat,” Ray says, and he’s only teasing a bit as he squeezes Brad’s fingers with his own. He looks down at his work, still spread on the table, and looks up with a sheepish smile, “I really do have to finish at least one more of my papers though.”

 

“Oh! Yeah, of course, I uh—” Brad pauses, lifting the hand not holding Ray’s to rub at the back of his neck, “I’m actually on my lunch break, so I should get back to work.” Ray laughs at this, and Brad shoots him another grin as he stands up from the table, dropping Ray’s hand slowly and Ray immediately misses the warmth. 

 

Ray waves awkwardly as Brad walks back to the counter and he’s still grinning as he opens his laptop again, pulling his phone out to send Walt a text that reads,  _ ‘why don’t u see if nate wants to stay in our dorm with u tonight homes his room is going to be occupied _ ’. 

 

He manages to get back into his research, scribbling notes into his notebook as he sees Walt’s response pop up on his screen. It’s a string of winky face and eggplant emojis, and Ray laughs out loud at the response, his glance shooting to where Brad is taking a customer’s order and still looking better than anyone has the right to look in an apron. 

  
  


**Author's Note:**

> *secretly thinks this counts for the coffee shop au prompt from day 2 as well*


End file.
